Key Payment Terminology in Oracle Payables

Key Concepts related to Payments in Oracle Payables

This post gives a brief overview on the key concepts related to payments which were added in Payables starting from R12 and similarly carried over to Fusion Applications.

Someone who would have worked on 11i Payables could be confused on seeing these terms and concepts used.But once we get the specific understanding on the same it would very easy to relate to on the payment.

Key terms can be summarized as follows:

i) Document Payable

ii) Payment Process Request ( sometimes abbreviated and referred to as PPR)

iii) Payee

iv) Payment Instruction

v) Payment Process Profile

vi) Payment Process Request Template

vii) Payment Format

viii) Payment Method

Let us discuss in detail about the above mentioned terms

Document Payable

A document which is to be paid by a company/organization through payables.This company/organization would generally be referred to as Payer.Examples which could be used from the documents which we create in Payables is a Payables Invoice or Scheduled Payment of the invoice.

Payment Process Request

It is a process by which group of invoices are selected and paid ie. processed for payment.This is similar to 11i Payment Batch, it is famously abbreviated as PPR and also referred to a Pay Run.So if any one is using the term Pay Run or PPR in reference to payments they are referring to Payment Process Request.Well as the name suggests technically PPR is a request raised from a source product to Oracle Payments.So PPR which is initiated from the source product during the invoice selection process contains many documents payable to be paid.During the course of the payment process life cycle these documents payable in payment process request are built into payments.

Payee
Well Payee is nothing but an organization/company/person which is being paid.Supplier,Customer or Employee are examples to whom payment is made.

Payment Instruction
Payment instruction is a collection of payments which have the payment information that is formatted.Payment instruction can be printed on to checks or a file which is transmitted to a payment system for processing and disbursement.

Payment Process Profile
Payment Process Profile is a payment attribute which is assigned to a document payable, having the information on handling of documents payable,payments and payment instructions.
Payment Process Profile has instructions on payment information formatting and transmission.

Following information is available on payment process profile:

• Payment instruction formatting information
• Transmission information
• Payment grouping
• Payment sorting details
• Payment limits

Payment Process Request Template

This template is like a blueprint that simplifies and expedites pay runs by preselecting applicable payment data like the header information,payment selection criteria, processing instructions and how validation failures are handled.

Payment Format

Payment format is a set of instructions/rules that specify on how payment instruction is formatted and converted into a format which is readable by payment system.These are registered and maintained in Oracle XML Publisher in R12 whereas maintained in BI Publisher in Fusion Applications.

Payment Method

Payment Method is an attribute which is attached to a document payable which indicates on how a payer makes a payment to payee (supplier,employee or customer).Example are checks, wire transfer etc.